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Updated: May 3, 2026

Neuro-rehabilitation Approach for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Published on: January 25, 2016
Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors and sudden sensorineural hearing loss
Monique Antunes de Souza Chelminski Barreto1, Fayez Bahmad2
1Fundação Hospitalar do Distrito Federal.
Unlabelled:
Phosphodiesterase type 5 Inhibitors, such as sildenafil, vardenafil and tadalafil have been increasingly used today and some of the users have developed sudden sensorineural hearing loss.
Objective:
To present two patients with sudden deafness developed after an occasional use of the drug and review studies on the use of phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors and sudden hearing loss.
Method:
Analytical study of two cases and review of the subject matter in the Pubmed/Medline and Bireme databases using the keywords: phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors and sudden deafness and its correlates in the English language.
Results:
The patients analyzed are young without additional disorders, using phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, and after combination treatment for sudden hearing loss only one had hearing improvement. We found nine scientific studies and reviewed preclinical studies, clinical trials, prospective and cross-sectional investigations.
Conclusion:
Increased occurrence in clinical practice and scientific reports in the literature suggest that the phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors are considered a risk factor for sudden deafness. Further studies with larger samples and control groups are needed for better assessing this association.
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